Tea bag, coffee bag, and the like and method of making the same



July 11, 1939. DQBLE 7 2,165,840

' TEA BAG, COFFEE am, AND THE LIKE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Original Filed March 17, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 u g l2 22 lnvenror.

Ralph N. Doble bym ATTyS.

July 11,1939. R. N. DOBLE 2,165,840

TEA BAG, COFFEE BAG. AND THE LIKE AND METHbD ,OF MAKING THE SAME ori inalifr iled March rr, 1958- s Sheets-Sheet 2 lnvenTor.

July 11, 1939. R. N. DOBLE 2,165,840.

TEA BAG, CO FFEE BAG. AND THE LIKE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Original Filed March 17, 1958 s Sheets-Sheet :5

Fig.9. I

InvenTor. Ralph ND bIe b- MM kfm Patented July 11, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Ralph N. Doble, Hingham, Mass.

Original application March 1'7, 1938, Serial No.

196,381. Divided and this application December 29, 1938, Serial No. 248,296

7 Claims.

This invention relates tothe manufacture of tea bags, coffee bags and the like and particular- 1y to bags of the so-called pouch type.

These "pouch" type coffee bags or tea bags 5 are usually made from a blank of bag material, such as fabric, paper, etc., and one way of forming the blank is by placing the blank on a supporting table which has a bag-forming opening therein with the opening centrally situated beneath the blank, and then forcing the blank of bag material through the opening by means of a combined bag-forming and filling tube, the result being that the bag material becomes folded up around the fillingtube by the edges of the bagforming opening. While the filling tube still remains within the partially formed bag, a charge of tea, coffee or other ingredient is delivered into the tube and is conveyed thereby into the bag. The tube is then withdrawn and the marginal portions of the blank are gathered together to close the mouth of the bag, said mouth being held permanently closed by a suitable string or other fastening device which is tied around the mouth.

In some bag-forming machines the operation of folding the bag material around the filling tube as it is inserted throughthe bag-forming opening of the supporting plate, forms in the bag material folds or creases of indeterminate size and shape and which have a random arrangement, and when the bag is formed in this way, it is necessary in order to produce a tight, non-leaking bag to place the tie string well below the edges of all of the folds in the'bag material.

In the bag of the present invention, the portion of the bag material that is folded. against the tube is formed into a plurality of pairs of innerfolds having a predetermined arrangement and a corresponding number of pairs of outer folds also having a predetermined arrangement and which overlap the inner folds. If the bag is made from a rectangular blank, the inner folds may be formed from the center portions of the sides of the blank while the outer folds may be formed from the corner portions of the blank.

Because the ,diametrical distance, across the blank from the center of one side to the center of the opposite side is less than the diagonal distance across the blank from one corner to the opposite corner, the inner folds, which are formed from the central portions of the blank, will be somewhat shorter than the outer folds, which are formed from the corner portions of the blank, and in the completed bag these longer outer folds overlie the'shorter inner folds, whereby a bag is produced in which the shorter folds are enclosed within and covered by the longer folds.

In such a bag, it is not necessary that the tie string should be placed below the ends of all the folds because so long as the tie string is below the ends of the longer outer folds, the bag will be tight, and non-leakable, even though the tie string is above the ends of the inner shorter folds. With this construction, a larger bag can be made from a blank of a given,size, or statedconversely, a bag of a given size can be made from a smaller blank, than if it was necessary to place the tie string below the ends of all the folds including the shorter folds.

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated a bag embodying my invention and a device for making the bag:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of a bag-forming machine by which my improved bag may be made;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the supporting plate having a bag-forming opening of ashape to form a bag as above described;

Fig. 3 is a vertical fragmentary sectional view illustrating the operation of the combined bagforming and filling tube in making the bag, the supporting plate being shown in section on substantially the line 3-3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section through the supporting plate on the line l4, Fig, 2; V

' Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a partially formed bag made on the device illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4;

Fig. 6 shows a top plan view of the bag during the first stages of its formation;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the bag showing the arrangement of the folds before the bag is closed;

Fig. 8 is a view illustrating a completed bag;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a supporting plate having a bag-forming openingof a slightly different shape from that shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 10 is a top plan view showing a. partially formed bag made on the supporting plate shown in Fi 9.

Referring first to the machine herein illustrated for forming my improved bag, I indicates the supporting plate which has the bag-forming opening 2 therein. The bag material 3 is shown in the form of a web or strip which is taken from a supply roll 4 and is fed ,to the supporting plate by suitable intermittently operating feed rolls 5. 6 indicates a cutter or shears device by which suitable lengths, each length constituting a blank 3 of bag material, are cut from the strip or web 3, each blank as it is severed from the web -3 being deposited or placed on the supporting plate I over the bag-forming opening 2 therein.

One such blank'of bag material is shown in dotted lines at I in Fig. 2. After the blank I has thus been deposited on the supporting plate I, said blank is formedinto a bag by means of the bag-forming and filling tube 8 which is forced downwardly against the blank I and through the opening 2, thereby causing the outer portions of the blank to be folded up around the tube by the edges of the bag-forming opening.

During the downward movement of the bagforming tube 8, the bag material is not only forced through the opening 2 but is also forced into and partially through the opening III between two jaw members II and I2 that are mounted on a suitable turret I3.-

After the bag has been thus formed, a charge of tea, coffee or other ingredient is deposited into the tube 8 by which it is conducted into the partially formed bag. The tube 8 is thep withdrawn, after which the jaws I and I I are closed together thereby to close the mouth of the bag, and a string or fastening device II is then tied around the closed mouth of the bag,.-thereby to hold the bag permanently closed. The upward projecting corners of the bag material are then trimmed off, thus producing a filled bag I5 as shown in Fig. 8. The mechanism above described, with the exception of the shape of the supporting plate, is similar to that commonly used in bag forming and filling machines of this type.

In the improved construction shown in Fig. 2. the bag-forming opening 2 in the supporting plate I has the central portion I6 of a size to receive the bag-forming and filling tube 8, and it also has four outer fold-forming recesses I 'I which function to form the outer folds in the corner portions of the blank. The supporting plate I is formed with inwardly directed arms I8 which separate the adjacent recesses I1 and the inner end of each arm IB'is provided with a downwardly directed folding flange or skirt I9 by which the inner folds are formed. Each downwardly directed flange I9 has a progressively increasing width from the top to the bottom, and the adjacent lower corners 20 of adjacent flanges are separated by a relatively narrow space 2|.

. Each arm I8 is shown as having substantially parallel sides, which will result in producing recesses I! that are wider at their outer portions than at the inner portions where they open into the central part I6 of the bag-receiving opening.

These recesses H are so positioned in the supporting plate I that they have a diagonal arrangement with respect to the blank I when the latter is deposited on the plate, while the arms 8 have a diametrical relation relative to the blank.

When the blank is forced downwardly through the central portion of the opening 2 by the tube 6, the inner ends of the arms I8 cause the central portion 22 of the sides 23 of the blank to fold up against the tube 8, while the corner portions 24 of the blank flow outwardly into the recesses Il.

Depending from the back wall 21 of each recess I1 is a folding plate or follower H. These folding plates are situated opposite the spaces 2| between the folding flanges I9 and they preferably incline inwardly toward their lower end. As the tube 8 continues its downward movement the edges 25 of each inner folding fiange IQ form the two inner folds 26 in the bag material which are directed away from each other, and the engagement of the corner portions 24 of the blank with the outer folding walls or flanges 4| flattens said corner portions and causes the formation in each corner portion of the two outer folds 28 which are also directed away from each other. While the outer folds which are formed from each corner portion of the blank'are directed away from each other, yet the outer fold 28 formed in one corner of the blank will be directed toward an adjacent outer fold formed in an adjacent corner of the blank. Similarly, while the two'inner folds 26 which are formed from each side portion of the blank by the folding flange I9 are directed away from each other, yet

the bag will have an inner fold 26 formed from one side of the blank which is directed toward and is closely adjacent an inner fold formed from an adjacent side of the blank.

For convenience I will regard any two adjacent folds which have their folded edges directed toward each other as a pair of folds, and the bag thus formed will have a plurality of pairs of inner folds 26 with the folds of each pair formed from adjacent sides 23 of'the blank, and it will also have a plurality of pairs of outer folds 28 with the two folds of each pair formed from adjacent corner portions of the blank. By giving the bag-forming opening 2, together with its recesses II, the proper shape and dimensions the bag will be formed with the inner folds of each pair closely adjacentland facing each other, and with such pair of inner folds underlying and covered by a corner portion. of the bag. Similarly, the two outer folds 28 of any pair which are formed from two adjacent corner portions 24 of the blank are situated closely together and face each other, and these outer folds overlie the 'part 23 of the bag which constitutes the central part of each side of the blank.

It will be observed that the inner folds 26 are formed from portions of the bag material relatively near the center of eachside, while the outer folds 28 are formed from in the corner portions of the blank. These outer folds 28, therefore, will be somewhat longer than the inner folds, and as a result in the completed bag the shorter inner folds 26 will be tucked within and will be overlapped by the longer outer folds 28.

When the tie string or fastening device It is applied to the bag to permanently close the mouth of the latter, said tie string will preferably be located just below the outer ends of the outer folds 28 so that said outer folds 28 will all be enclosed in the fastening device. It is not essential, however, that this tie string I4 should be located below the outer ends of the shorter inner folds 26 because the open ends of these folds are held closed by the overlapping outer folds and consequently a tight non-leaking bag will be produced even if the tie string is located slightly above the outer end of the inner folds, as shown in Fig. 8, so long as said tie string is located below the outer ends of the outer folds.

This makes it possible to form a bag having a predetermined size from a smaller blank than would be required if it were necessary to place the tie string below the outer ends of the inner folds, and, therefore, this invention has the advantage that it provides a considerable saving in the cost of the material required for making bags of a predetermined size.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the recesses I! are symmetrical and this form of supporting plate produces a bag in which the inner folds are all of the same size and the outer folds are also all of the same size.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a supportingplate having a slightly different construction wherein each recess is deeper at one side than'at the other. In this construction these recesses, which are indicated at Ila, are made deeper at one end as shown in 30 than at the other end 3| and the back wall 32 of each recess and the corresponding outer folding flange a. have an angular arrangement with reference to diametrical lines extending through opposed arms 18. with this construction the bag blank will be formed with the inner folds 33, 34 and the outer folds 35, 36, but of the outer folds which are formed from each corner portion 24 of the blank one of the folds 35 will be relatively narrow, while the other fold 36 will be relatively wide. Each pair of outer folds, therefore, is formed from one narrow fold 35 and a wide fold 36. These outer folds, however, overlie and close the inner folds so that in the completed bag the shorter inner folds are held closed by the encircling and overlapping outer folds.

This application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 196,381, filed March 17, 1938.

I claim:

1. A- tea bag, coffee bag and, the like of the pouch type made from a rectangular blank of bag material having its edges gathered together and fastened in their gathered-together relation by a fastening device, in which the bag material constituting the side walls of the bag are formed of a plurality of pairs of inner folds and a corresponding number of pairs of outer folds which overlie the inner folds.

2. A tea bag; coffee bag and the like of the pouch type made from a rectangular blank of bag material having its edges gathered together and fastened in their gathered-together relation by a fastening device, in which the bag mate- I rial constituting the side walls of the bag are formed of a plurality of pairs of inner folds and a corresponding number of pairs of outer folds which overlie the inner folds, the two folds of each pair of inner folds having their folded edges adjacent each other.

3. A tea bag, coffee bag and the like of the pouch type made from a rectangular blank of bag material having its edges gathered together and fastened in their gathered-together relation by a fastening device, in which the bag material constituting the side walls of the bag are formed of a plurality of pairs of inner folds and a corresponding number of pairs of outer folds which overlie the inner folds, the two folds of each pair of outer folds having their folded edges adjacent each other.

4. A tea bag, coffee bag and the like of the pouch type made from a rectangular blank of bag material having its edges gathered together and fastened in their gatheredetogether relation by a fastening device, in which the bag material constituting the side walls of the bag are formed of a plurality of pairs of inner folds and a corresponding number of pairs of outer folds which overlie the inner folds, the two folds of each pair of outer folds being formed from adjacent comer portions of the blank.

5. A tea bag, coffee bag and the like of the pouch type made from a rectangular blank of bag material having its edges gathered together and fastened in their gathered-together relation by a fastening device, in which the bag material constituting the side walls of the bag are formed of a plurality of pairs of inner folds and a corresponding number of pairs of outer folds which overlie the inner folds, the two folds of each pair of inner folds being formed from adjacent central sideportions of the blank.

6. The method of making a tea bag, coffee bag and the like which consists in forming a rectangular blank into the.form of abag by turning the outer portions of th'eblank upwardlyseem so doing forming the central portion side of the blank into two inner folds extending from the top toward the bottom of the bag, and forming each corner portion of the blank into two outer folds also extending from the top to the bottom of the bag, said outer folds overlying the inner folds.

'7. The method of making a tea bag, coffee bag and the like which consists in forming a rectangular blank into the form of a bag by turning the outer portions of the blank upwardly, and in so doing forming the central portion of each side of the blank into two oppositely disposed inner folds extending from the top toward the bottom of the bag, and forming each corner portion of the blank into two oppositely disposed outer folds also extending from the top to the bottom of the bag, said-outer folds overlying the inner folds.

RALPH N. DOBLE. 

